CityDekho
Tara Tarini Temple

Tara Tarini Temple

pilgrimage site · Odisha

Tara Tarini Temple in Purushottampur, Ganjam, Odisha is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism.

State
Odisha
Type
Pilgrimage Site
Best season
Winter

Tara Tarini Temple in Purushottampur, Ganjam, Odisha is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. According to tradition, this is where the **breasts** of Goddess Sati fell when Lord Vishnu's Sudarshana Chakra divided her body. Here the Goddess is worshipped as **Tara Tarini**. Shakti Peethas are among the holiest pilgrimage sites for devotees of the Goddess, drawing pilgrims especially during Navratri and Durga Puja. Each is tied to the legend of Sati, whose body parts fell across the Indian subcontinent and beyond, sanctifying the ground where they landed.

When to go

Navratri (around October and April) is the most auspicious time; winter months are comfortable for a quieter visit.

Why visit

Two goddesses rather than one, on a hill above the Rushikulya — close to a thousand steps up, with a ropeway as the alternative. The Tuesdays of Chaitra, in March and April, are when the crowds come.

Cultural notes

Presiding deity (Shakti): Tara Tarini. Associated relic: the breasts of Goddess Sati. The site forms part of the Shakti Peetha pilgrimage circuit rooted in the Daksha Yagna legend.

Tara Tarini Temple guide & itineraries

Reviews & ratings

What travellers say about Tara Tarini Temple

CityDekho traveller reviews

★★★★★★★★★★

No CityDekho reviews yet

Be the first traveller to review this place.

Sign in to write a review

Community

Ask questions and share tips about Tara Tarini Temple

Sign in to ask a question or share a tip about Tara Tarini Temple.

Loading…

Been to Tara Tarini Temple?

Write what you would tell a friend — where you stayed, what you would skip, the thing you wish somebody had mentioned before you went. We read every submission before it goes up.

Share your story

More spiritual places to explore

More places you'll love

Assam

Hajo

Hajo is an ancient pilgrimage town near Guwahati in Assam, revered across three faiths. The hilltop Hayagriva Madhava temple draws Hindus and some Buddhists who believe the Buddha attained nirvana here, while the nearby Poa Mecca is an important Muslim shrine, making Hajo a rare centre of shared devotion.

Andhra Pradesh

Srisailam (Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga)

Srisailam, set amid the forested Nallamala Hills above the Krishna River, is home to the Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Temple, a rare site that is at once one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva (as Mallikarjuna) and one of the Shakti Peethas (as Bhramaramba Devi). This dual sanctity makes it one of southern India's most powerful pilgrimage destinations.

Maharashtra

Siddhivinayak Temple (Mumbai)

Shree Siddhivinayak is Mumbai's most beloved Ganesha temple, built in 1801 and today one of the richest and most-visited shrines in India. Its inner sanctum enshrines a black-stone idol of Lord Ganesha whose trunk curves to the right, a rare and especially auspicious form that draws millions of devotees, film stars and cricketers alike.

Maharashtra

Trimbakeshwar (Jyotirlinga)

Trimbakeshwar, near Nashik in Maharashtra, enshrines one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas of Shiva and marks the source of the Godavari, India's second-longest river. Its distinctive lingam bears three faces representing Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, and the town is a key site for the Nashik Kumbh Mela.

Kerala

Guruvayur (Sri Krishna Temple)

Guruvayur is a temple town in Kerala centred on the revered Sri Krishna (Guruvayurappan) Temple, often called the Dwarka of the South. The deity is worshipped as the young Krishna, and the shrine is one of the busiest Vaishnava pilgrimage centres in India, famed for its strict rituals, temple elephants and devotional music.

Kerala

Padmanabhaswamy Temple (Thiruvananthapuram)

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is a Vaishnava shrine where Lord Vishnu reclines on the serpent Anantha in the Anantha-shayanam posture. Blending Kerala and Dravidian styles with a towering seven-tier gopuram, it became world-famous when vast treasures were documented in its vaults, ranking it among the wealthiest temples on earth.

Karnataka

ISKCON Temple (Bengaluru)

ISKCON Sri Radha Krishna Temple in Rajajinagar is one of the largest ISKCON temples in the world, a striking blend of modern glass-and-steel architecture with traditional gopuram-topped shrines. Opened in 1997 on Hare Krishna Hill, it is a major centre for Krishna devotion, cultural programmes and prasadam distribution in Bengaluru.

Gujarat

Shatrunjaya Hill

Shatrunjaya Hill, near Palitana town in the Bhavnagar district, is a world-famous sacred mountain rising above the Shatrunjaya River. It stands as a unique structural wonder, being the world's only mountain holding a fortified complex of more than 860 carved marble temples built over a millennium. Considered an entirely holy landscape by the Jain community, no vehicles are permitted past the base database, requiring pilgrims and travelers to scale approximately 3,500 stone steps to reach the mountaintop complex.

Gujarat

Pavagadh Hill

Pavagadh Hill is a volcanic plateau rising about 822 metres from the plains of the Panchmahal district, at the heart of the UNESCO-listed Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park. Its slopes hold Rajput fortifications, medieval gateways and reservoirs, and a much-visited Kalika Mata (Shakti Peeth) shrine near the top.

Gujarat

Valsad

Valsad, once known as Bulsar, sits at the southern tip of Gujarat on the Arabian Sea. It is known for its mango orchards — the source of much of the region's Alphonso (Hafoos) crop — and mixes an industrial economy with easygoing coastal and temple tourism. With black-sand beaches and the union territory of Daman close by, it is a popular weekend break for visitors from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Gujarat

Jamnagar

Jamnagar, once the princely capital of Nawanagar under the Jadeja rulers, sits on the southern Gulf of Kutch. Known as the 'Jewel of Kathiawar' and, for its many temples, as 'Chhoti Kashi', it pairs royal-era architecture — lake palaces, colonial squares and a solar observatory — with a large modern industrial belt. Nearby lie coral reefs and coastal wetlands rich in birdlife.

Gujarat

Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar, the meticulously master-planned capital city of Gujarat, stands on the west bank of the Sabarmati River. Designed by visionary architects H.K. Mewada and Prakash M. Apte, it is internationally recognized as one of India's greenest administrative capitals, laid out in an orderly grid of 30 structured sectors. Beyond its primary role as a political and bureaucratic powerhouse, Gandhinagar handles a massive leisure and spiritual tourist footprint due to its high-capacity exhibition facilities, lush urban forest canopy covers, eco-nature parks, and monumental temple installations.

Trending in Odisha

Puri (Jagannath Temple & Beach)

Puri (Jagannath Temple & Beach)

Puri is an ancient holy city on the Bay of Bengal coast in Odisha, serving as one of the four primary sacred nodes in the traditional Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. The spiritual and civilizational identity of the metropolis revolves entirely around the monumental, 12th-century Shree Jagannath Temple, housing the unique wooden manifestations of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, and Goddess Subhadra. The city's layout presents a dynamic transition from the deep devotional crowd corridors of the Grand Road to the wide, sandy shores of Puri Beach. Puri operates on a continuous pulse governed by ancient temple rituals, transforming into a massive global phenomenon during mid-summer when it hosts the historic Rath Yatra chariot festival.

Konark Sun Temple

Konark Sun Temple

The Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century temple near the Bay of Bengal coast in Odisha's Puri district, built in dark khondalite stone as a giant chariot for the sun god Surya — complete with 24 carved stone wheels and seven straining horses. The main tower collapsed long ago, but the surviving audience hall (Jagamohan) still stands amid lawns, its walls covered in fine relief carvings of celestial figures, processions and everyday life.

Bhitarkanika National Park

Bhitarkanika National Park

Bhitarkanika National Park in Odisha protects one of India's largest mangrove ecosystems, a maze of tidal creeks and forests fed by several rivers. It is famed for its huge saltwater crocodiles, along with king cobras, water monitors and vast numbers of birds; nearby Gahirmatha beach is a major nesting site for Olive Ridley sea turtles.

Chilika & Rambha Coast

Chilika & Rambha Coast

Where Asia's largest brackish lagoon, Chilika, meets the sea, this coast is famed for Irrawaddy dolphins, vast migratory birdlife and empty island beaches. The best months to visit are roughly November to February, when seas are calm and skies are clear; the monsoon (June to September) brings rough water and many beach shacks shut. Plan water sports and swimming for the dry winter window.